Those who are involved in the breeding, propagation and production of horses generally agree that it is wise and the best practice for someone to be in attendance when a mare gives birth to her foal. Although a mare may give birth without assistance, it occasionally happens that assistance will be quite helpful. Sometimes there may be more serious problems where an attendant can acutally save the life of the mare or the foal by being present during the delivery of the foal. As is well known, a foal may die simply because the sack did not break and this is a very simple operation if someone is present at the time to break the sack.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to predict precisely when a mare will foal and, although certain signs can be watched for, it often happens that someone must simply observe the mare continuously for hours or days at a time.
In delivering her foal, a mare will lie completely over on her side with her legs stretched out horizontally.